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LuckyC14's avatar
LuckyC14
Copper Contributor
May 29, 2026

Displays Going to Sleep

Set up a new PC at work (I'm the network admin). We have a power plan we apply to all PCs (same one that was on my last PC). On this computer, however, whenever I lock my PC (using Win+L), within 30 seconds the displays just go on standby/sleep/hibernate. This is annoying and I cannot figure out why.

 

Power plan is set up accordingly. NO it is not due to monitor settings, for sure Windows. Send help. Thanks.

 

 

community
configuration

3 Replies

  • MariuszWicik's avatar
    MariuszWicik
    Copper Contributor
    Jun 02, 2026

    It looks like the issue isn’t caused by your power plan at all, but by a different Windows mechanism that activates only after the session is locked, not during normal use.

    On fresh Windows 10/11 installations, a hidden setting is often enabled:

    👉 System unattended sleep timeout

    This setting is not visible by default in the Advanced Power Options, and it can force the displays to turn off about 30 seconds after pressing Win+L — even if the power plan says “Never”.

    ✔ How to fix it

    Open regedit

    Navigate to:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power\PowerSettings\238C9FA8-0AAD-41ED-83F4-97BE242C8F20\7bc4a2f9-d8fc-4469-b07b-33eb785aaca0

    Change Attributes from 1 to 2

    Now open Advanced Power Settings again

    Under Sleep, you will see a new option:

    System unattended sleep timeout

    Set it to 0 minutes or Never

    After this change, Windows will stop putting the displays to sleep immediately after locking the workstation.

    ✔ Also worth checking

    Make sure no Screen Saver is set to “Blank” with a short timeout

    Check if any GPO is enforcing display timeout:

    Computer Configuration → Administrative Templates → System → Power Management → Video and Display Settings

  • lkadirozcan's avatar
    lkadirozcan
    Brass Contributor
    May 31, 2026

    Hi LuckyC14,

     

    If you're certain the power plan is identical to the one used on your previous PC, I'd start looking at settings outside of the standard power plan.

     

    One thing that comes to mind is the "Console lock display off timeout" setting, which can affect how quickly displays turn off after locking the PC. Group Policy settings are also worth checking if this is a managed environment.

     

    I'd also compare the output of `powercfg /q` between the old and new machines to see if there are any differences that aren't obvious in the Power Options UI.

     

    Is this Windows 11, and is the PC joined to a domain? That might help narrow things down.

     

    Regards,

    Kadir O.